This invention relates generally to the field of fishing and, more particularly, to an improvement in reels/spools used for long line fishing.
Long line fishing is an effective form of fishing that typically deploys miles of monofilament line supported horizontally in the water column from floats with hundreds of hooks for palegic species or deployed on the bottom of the ocean for demersal species.
Originally these long lines were made from rope set and hauled, by hand, from small boats. Pincher type power driven haulers made larger systems feasible for larger vessels. The rope was usually stored in large tubs. Later, some mid-size boat fleets found it preferable to haul and store rope lines on large hydraulic driven reels eliminating the need for a pincher hauler and the storage tubs.
In the 1970""s, some fishermen started using large monofilament for the main lines instead of ropes. They found that it fished better but, because of it""s stretch, it put high compression loads on the storage spools and did not lend itself to the use of current pincher type haulers. Better spools were designed that could withstand the more demanding loads accumulated from the stretched monofilament. Monofilament long lining systems expanded steadily for the mid-sized fleets of 12 to 30 meters in length.
In the 1990""s, monofilament long line gear was beginning to penetrate more demanding markets of larger boats. These boats may exceed 60 meters and have crews capable of setting and hauling 70 or 80 miles per day of fishing line. The hauling and setting speeds required pushed monofilament and storage spool demands beyond existing technology. Storage spool limitations of 50 miles per spool required 2 spools per vessel and monofilament line, considered a durable product capable of lasting for years, was being changed every few months. The use of monofilament long line systems is still growing because of it""s lower crew requirement and better fishing ability than any other known long line fishing technique.
However, a clear need for improvement in spool and monofilament technology is apparent. The limit on long line spool capacity is stress on the storage spool and the line. Conventionally, the storage spools are manufactured from aluminum or steel. They have a center cylindrical section with an axle journal secured thereto, with reinforcing ribs, welded near the cylinder ends to form the spool. The spool is mounted on a frame with a hydraulic drive motor and line level winder. The cylinder sizes may be 10 to 16 inches in diameter with end plate flanges typically from 36 to 48 inches in diameter. Distance between the flanges would be from 48 to 96 inches. These dimensions produce a long line reel that is relatively efficient to build with high strength, good capacity, and reasonable cost.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,505,062 to Cook, Jr. teaches a longline hauling V-grooved sheave and storage system with transverse rollers angled to the line direction located between the reel and the storage tub.
Lingren, U.S. Pat. No. 4,920,680, teaches a drive circuit for longline reels that maintains tension on the line as it is wound on the reel.
Iannucci, U.S. Pat. No. 5,690,300, teaches a spool having a central shaft composed of arcuate sections linked together.
What is needed in the art is a device that addresses monofilament hydraulic hauling and storage spool problems including monofilament deterioration problem. In addition, what is needed is a method of manufacturing spools to address various spool manufacturing problems.
The larger vessels, now using long lines, have placed greater demands on the conventional spools. These vessels are capable of carrying more line, staying out for longer periods of time, and capturing high amounts of fish than previous found on smaller vessels. Hauling speeds that were 7 knots are now, often 10 or 11 knots. Poor handling of larger boats and rougher fishing conditions contribute to higher line hauling loads.
The line often comes off the spool deformed oval or, even, it flat from the enormous pressure at or near the bottom of the spool. The pressure at the core of the reel can be estimated from the formula:       PSI    ⁢          xe2x80x83        =                            (                      hauling            ⁢                          xe2x80x83                        ⁢            load            ⁢                          xe2x80x83                        ⁢            force                    )                ⁢                  xe2x80x83                ⁢                  (                      spool            ⁢                          xe2x80x83                        ⁢                          max              .                              xe2x80x83                            ⁢              dia              .                              xe2x80x83                            ⁢              Minus                        ⁢                          xe2x80x83                        ⁢            spool            ⁢                          xe2x80x83                        ⁢                          min              .                              xe2x80x83                            ⁢              dia              .                                )                                      xe2x80x83                ⁢                  2          ⁢          C          ⁢                      xe2x80x83                    ⁢                      (                          line              ⁢                              xe2x80x83                            ⁢                              dia                .                                  xe2x80x83                                ⁢                Squared                                      )                    ⁢                      xe2x80x83                    ⁢                      (                          spool              ⁢                              xe2x80x83                            ⁢                              min                .                                  xe2x80x83                                ⁢                dia                .                                      )                          ⁢                  xe2x80x83                          Where    ⁢          xe2x80x83        ⁢    C    ⁢          xe2x80x83        ⁢    is    ⁢          xe2x80x83        ⁢    a    ⁢          xe2x80x83        ⁢    constant    ⁢          xe2x80x83        ⁢    expressing    ⁢          xe2x80x83        ⁢    Nylon    ⁢          xe2x80x83        ⁢    creep    ⁢          xe2x80x83        ⁢    from    ⁢          xe2x80x83        ⁢    0    ⁢          xe2x80x83        ⁢    to    ⁢          xe2x80x83        ⁢    1  
The line strain is then a resultant of the hauling strain plus (+) the strain created by the accumulating spool wraps as calculated at the bottom by the above formula.
Plastics, by definition, have deformation from load that is permanent at high loads over time. For many conditions this is easily predicted by calculating the creep, as reported for the specific plastic, being used. The actual loads for hauling a long line vary constantly. These conditions and the creep and deterioration properties of highly molecularly oriented Nylon lines, as stored on long line reels, is previously unstudied.
Laboratory tests which reduce monofilament line to the condition of samples of monofilament line, deteriorated only a few months in actual fishing conditions, have been conducted with instrumentation to obtain certain data. The result is an invention that has unanticipated proportions and requirements that can be designed with a simple algorithm to solve the current long line reel problems.
For example, monofilament fishing reels that are fished with very high hauling loads for high capacity often find that the monofilament is permanently damaged. Actual line test of 3.6mm monofilament of 1000 lb. tensile strength show a deterioration to less than 600 lb. Overhand knot strength has deteriorated from 650 lb. to 350 lb., respectively. Under conventional monofilament long line use, such line has been documented to deteriorate from 10% to 25% over 1 to 6 years of normal use.
Further the monofilament line does not work well in traditional hauling devices that pinch the line in a V groove between closely spaced cheeks to gain friction on the line.
Currently, loads on monofilament during hauling can be as high as 25,000 psi. Additional pressure at the lower inside diameter of the storage reel can be in excess of 10,000 psi. These loads are constant as long as the line is on the storage reel. While fishing, this is approximately 10% to 50% of the time for 200-250 days per year. When a vessel is not fishing, the line is under this stress 100% of the time.
However, using the higher parameters of current usage, Nylon 6-6/6 copolymer monofilament 3.6 mm line tested originally at 1261 lb. tensile strength failed after 21 days at 650 lb. Another sample of 3.6mm monofilament failed at 800 lb. tension after 22 days. Elongation continued steadily from 10% to 14.1% over 21 days as a result of plastic flow or creep.
Another test determined typical elongation-to-break for a new line is between 25% to 30%. Creep testing for 3.6mm monofilament samples loaded to 31,600 psi, 41,000 psi, and 50,600 psi indicated an average elongation for each load of 7%, 19%, and 33%, respectively. If this continues, the failure would result in 285 days, 107 days and 53 days, respectively.
Another test demonstrated that different diameter spool cylinders contribute to tensile load on the line. Two spool cylinders, with the same capacity, of the same length, hauling at the same load were tested by hauling 45 nautical miles of the same line. The smaller cylinder was 36 inches in outside diameter (OD) and 12 inches inside diameter (ID); the larger cylinder was 40 inches OD and 18 inches ID. Pressure sensitive film was placed about the cylinders prior to reeling. The analysis of the film indicated that the line at the bottom of the larger center cylinder reel was under a pressure of 3015 psi. The pressure at the bottom of the smaller center cylinder reel was 4715 psi.
A corollary to the results of this test is that less depth of monofilament wound on a reel results in a lower total pressure on the line.
Many existing boats with long line reels must continue to replace monofilament every few months. In addition, to replace the storage reel is very expensive. There exists a need for a device that can assist the storage reel in hauling the line.
Therefore, it is an objective of this invention to teach the use of a long line hauling system that will reduce the line pressure on the reels and relieve the stress on the axle.
It is another objective of the invention to teach the provision of a reel structure that reduces deterioration of the fishing line in long line applications.
It is a further objective of the invention to teach the method of making the reels of this invention.
It is a still further objective of this invention to teach the provision of an accessory hauling assembly which reduces the hauling load on the long line reel.
It is yet another objective of the invention to teach the provision of hydraulic circuits for the accessory and the hauling reel to maintain strain without complex controls.
Other objectives and advantages of this invention will become apparent from the following description and drawings wherein are set forth, by way of illustration and example, certain embodiments of the present invention.